Recent Gel Plate Play

I spent a fun afternoon yesterday playing with my Gelli Arts plates and Golden Open acrylics. I'm loving the extra working time I get with the Open paints. During my play, I made some stencils from hot glue, as demonstrated here by Jane Davies.

Stencils made from hot glue

Golden Spiral !

Golden Spiral 2

Leaf and Stem 1

Leaf and Stem 2

Party

Foggy

Summer Doings

I spent a refreshing week last month at Jane Davies' Collage Journeys In Vermont 2013 workshop. Check out this link to see Jane's post about it. This was my second year. What a fun and relaxing way to spend a summer vacation - art and Vermont together, along with the company of some wonderful fellow students!


I came home with a lot of works in progress. These two are the closest to being done, as I see it.

Acrylic/collage on printmaking paper, about 10"x10"

Acrylic/collage on printmaking paper, about 10"x10"

Jane coached us through a creativity exercise that she calls "Big Fat Art". Here are some of mine.

Acrylic on 70(?) lb drawing paper, "Big Fat Art" exercises

Acrylic on 70(?) lb drawing paper, "Big Fat Art" exercises

Today, at home, I started some Big Fat Art on my own. Here they are, in progress:

To visit the blogs and websites of some my my classmates, take a look at these links:
Beverly Fine
Marilyn Gillis
Sandy Gregg
Janet Joehlin
Bette Friedlander
Sherri Scott


Next month, I'll be participating in New Haven's annual City Wide Open Studios. Stay tuned for more information.

Inner Geologies

I'm currently taking Extreme Composition with the incomparable Jane Davies. I created this series "Inner Geologies" as part of a lesson in this fabulous online class. Each piece is acrylic and ink on watercolor paper, 4.75" square.

Fairfield University Show

I am delighted to be participating in a showcase of Connecticut artists at Fairfield University as part of their annual LGBTQ and Allies program of events. The show runs from Tuesday October 2 through Thursday October 4. There will be a reception on Oct.4 at 7 p.m. where you can meet me and the other artists - hope to see you there! See the Fairfield U link for directions. I will be showing these self-portraits that I did earlier this year in Jane Davies' Exploring the Self-Portrait course. It seemed fitting for this event to show work that relates to personal identity. Here they are:

India ink using a pipe cleaner, 2012

Watercolor with white crayon resist, 2012

"Albert Nobbs", collage and acrylic on watercolor paper, 2012

"Lady Butterfly", collage and acrylic on watercolor paper, 2012

"Sprinkler", collage and acrylic on watercolor paper, 2012

A bit about how these pieces were created

More on Collage Journeys in VT

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent a fabulous 5 days last week at Jane Davies' Collage Journeys in Vermont 2012 workshop in Rupert, VT. One of my classmates, the talented Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, an accomplished artist and teacher in her own right, posted tons of great pictures here on her blog. Check them out!

Collage Journeys in VT 2012

I had such a good time at Jane Davies' Collage Journeys in Vermont 2012 workshop this past week in Rupert, VT. We created a lot of painted papers to add to our paper stash. We did studies, both small and large. I took the plunge and started a few 22" x 30" works. Here's a sampling of my work and a few scenes of Rupert and environs:

Painted papers and some small studies

Black, white and neutral 18" x 24" studies

Working large: Untitled #1, 22" x 30

Working large: Untitled #2, a work in progress, 22" x 30

The Rupert Post Office

View from my guest house

Circles and Lizards and Pears, Oh My!

I'm taking another fabulous Jane Davies online art class and recently made these studies in shape for one of our lessons. Jane and my classmates are so supportive. The third of these, the one with the lizards, wasn't going so well, and I was ready to give it up. With their encouragement, I took another crack at it and came up with something I like - a lot! Jane's blog can be found at: Collage Journeys

"Circles": August 6, 2012, shape study (one shape), 6" x 6", collage and acrylic paint on watercolor paper.

"Electric Pears": August 6, 2012, shape study (two shapes), 6" x 6", collage and acrylic paint on watercolor paper

"Circles and  Pears and Lizards, Oh My!": August 7, 2012, shape study (three shapes), 6" x 6", collage and acrylic paint on watercolor paper

More Yummy Color

For the final week of Jane Davies' Unlocking the Secrets of Color class, we created collages to convey warmth, coolness and emotions.

It's Hot as Hades, 6x6
Warm Abstract Landscape
Stamped and acrylic-painted drawing and deli papers on watercolor paper

Magic Mountain, 6x6
Cool Abstract Landscape
Stamped, acrylic-painted, spritz/blotted drawing papers.
and acrylic-painted deli papers on watercolor paper

Cold Winter Night at Poulnabrone, 8x10
Construction paper, pencil
The Poulnabrone Dolmen is a neolithic portal tomb in
the Burren area of County Clare, Ireland.
This wasn't done in Jane's class;
it's a favorite from my personal archive, 2009

Sweet-Tart, 6x6
The background is a paste paper from my stash.
In the foreground: stamped and painted drawing
and deli papers on watercolor paper.
This one went all over the map.
My original intent was quiet joy. It wasn't being
so quiet, so with the addition of the blue-green-yellow
deli paper at center right between the two circles,
I was going for bittersweet. Well, I added the green
and red circles, and wound up with more of a
sensation that an emotion, but no matter, I like it.

Sketchbook Practice HIghlights

This spring I took a great class with Jane Davies, called Sketchbook Practice. Here are some of the highlights of that class:

Color and Wash Study with line work, acrylic paint, watercolor paper, 6x6

Paint/Collage/Line Study, acrylic paint, painted paper, Pitt pen on watercolor paper, 6x6

Wash and Line Study, acrylic ink wash with gel pen line on watercolor paper, approx 5x8

Wash and Line Study, acrylic ink wash with India ink line on watercolor paper, approx 5x8

Grid Study, acrylic painted papers, watercolor paper, 6x6

Grid Study, acrylic paint, painted papers, gel pen, watercolor paper, 6x6

Color, color and more color

My latest work in the Color class I've been taking with Jane Davies:

Analogous color study, acrylic paints, watercolor paper, 6x6

Spring Rain, acrylics and painted papers, watercolor paper, 6x6

Red Sky at Night, another analogous color study - I love the red-to-yellow range! This one is mostly painted papers with a few touches of acrylic paint, watercolor paper,6x6

Sunset Flight, gelatin print background, paints and painted papers in the foreground, printmaking paper, 6x6

On Your Marks

In Jane Davies' Unlocking the Secrets of Color, one of our assignments this week was to create a collage exploring the full range of a single color. My answer to that challenge is this 6"x6" collage of purples, made with my own painted papers as well as a couple I had purchased some time ago.